


Beyond Oblivious

by Kiterie



Series: Formspring Drabbles [13]
Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-13
Updated: 2010-11-13
Packaged: 2017-11-27 14:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiterie/pseuds/Kiterie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi and Iruka have a miscommunication about how to show affection.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beyond Oblivious

Iruka was affectionate to everyone. He always had a hug for his students who needed one when their parents couldn't be there to give it. When his fellow shinobi needed reassurance it was often a hand on their shoulder and a smile but even they could count on a hug if they really needed it. It was expected of him.

Where as he, Kakashi, wasn't outwardly affectionate even to his friends. He had his own special way of showing affection even if it wasn't with hugs and pats on the head. He teased his friends and deliberately drove them crazy when he could while pretending he didn't care or notice that they were getting upset. Gai pretended he didn't realize the truth and acted even more enthusiastic or wounded. Tenzou thought he was mean and complained. Kurenai shook her head at him and scolded him. They understood though what the game was.

When he'd been flirting with Iruka, he'd thought Iruka understood. He pushed Iruka's buttons _because_ he was flirting. When  it had finally become apparent that Iruka was just _that_ oblivious he'd pushed more than buttons and kissed him. It had gotten him what he'd wanted even if Iruka had been more than a little baffled at first.

Iruka wasn't however the type to hold hands, kiss, or otherwise show affection to the person he was supposedly in love with while in public. At least Kakashi _thought_ Iruka was in love with him. He hadn't said it but when they were alone he smiled and blushed and kissed him back. Kakashi was starting to wonder if he'd assumed wrong. Every time he tried to steal a kiss, hold his hand, or be in anyway affectionate while they were out, Iruka avoided the contact. Not directly though. He would turn his head, raise his hand and wave to random people, duck into a store... At first he'd thought it was his imagination then he'd thought Iruka was shy but they'd been 'dating' for almost six months and it was still happening.

Kakashi crouched in front of the memorial stone and brushed his fingers over the names engraved on it. "What should I do, Sensei?" He hadn't done any thing wrong that he could think of and really he didn't think he was in trouble. "I never thought that of all people it would be him that keeps me at a distance." He shifted, scratched his head, and frowned. Gai, Tenzou, Asuma, Kurenai... any of this other friends reached out to him. "Do you think that maybe it's as simple as he doesn't like me that way but is too nice to tell me?" The smiles could be pity, the blushing could be embarrassment over what a fool Kakashi was making of himself, but the kisses... they felt real. "Would I really know how that feels though when he's the first person I've kissed." _Not_ the first person he'd slept with, though they hadn't yet, but the first person he'd actually 'kissed'. The idea that they weren't real, that Iruka only kissed him so as not hurt him, hurt. He pressed his fingers into the grooves a little harder for a moment then stood up. It would be easier if he could hear the answers but Kakashi knew his Sensei listened and that helped. Turning he slipped through the training field, the stand of trees, and into town.

When he found himself at Iruka's door it didn't really surprise him. He hesitated before knocking then fidgeted with the edge of his glove while he waited.

The door opened and Iruka waved him in then closed it. "It's late, is something wrong?" Concern rang in his voice.

"Do you like me?" The words slipped out without his permission.

Iruka's eyebrows raised and then he gently pushed Kakashi towards the couch. "I'll take that as a yes."

 _'And that wasn't.'_ Kakashi frowned under his mask but sat down. The response bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

"What brought this on, Kakashi-san? Did somebody say something?" Iruka asked, sitting down beside him.

'San' sounded like a nail in the coffin. Kakashi swallowed and took a deep breath, knowing he might as well get it over with. "Six months, tomorrow, and you still attach san to my name." His chest felt tight and he shifted.

Iruka's brow furrowed. "Of course I do you never said I could do otherwise and what do you mean six months?"

Kakashi stared at the floor, tracing the pattern in the wood to avoid looking at Iruka. "You know since we started dating and why do I have to tell you not to? I thought it was obvious since-" 

"We're dating?" Iruka's voice pitched slightly higher than normal. 

Kakashi looked up. Iruka didn't even consider them to be dating? "But..." He couldn't finish it, it made him sound needy and pathetic. The last thing he wanted was for Iruka to think he was those things.

Iruka's cheeks flushed a bright red, making the scar that ran across cheeks and nose stand out in even sharper contrast."But you never said we were and I mean- you- you never- _asked_. We've never even been on a date. When did we start _dating_?"

"We've been on dates." At least he'd thought they were dates.

"When?" There was no missing the confusion in the tone.

 _'Maybe they weren't dates, maybe they didn't count.'_ He wasn't sure. Kakashi had assumed they were. He'd ask Iruka to dinner, they went, they had dinner, they came back here, they talked, they kissed. That fit the definition as far as he knew. "Day before yesterday? Ichiraku's?"

"That was a date?" Iruka blinked, licked his lips, then looked away for a moment. "We do that all the time, I do that with other friends all the time, how is that a date? Besides we've done that for years and you said six months."

"Do you kiss them?" Kakashi realized he was actually terrified Iruka would say yes as irrational and illogical the possibility seemed.

Closing his eyes, Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No, but--" He swallowed and looked back up at Kakashi. "--I wasn't sure what those meant or that they meant anything. For all I knew you were just trying to get me to sleep with you and that's _not_ the same thing as dating so I just avoided letting it go there."

It all seemed overly complicated the way Iruka was putting it. Kakashi hadn't realized that he was supposed to spell it out that he wanted dinner to be a date when he asked him out. He'd thought that had been obvious when he kissed him. "But you kissed me back. You _were_ kissing me back, weren't you?" 

"Yes." Iruka's cheeks flushed red all over again. "I never meant to but when you kiss me I can't help it."

"You didn't want to kiss me?" Kakashi was glad he had his mask, he felt exposed as it was.

Iruka shook his head. "I did but..." he chewed on his lower lip and wrung his fingers, his cheeks still impossibly bright.

"But?" His stomach felt like it was twisting itself up into a million knots and a tiny little ball at the same time. It wasn't really a pleasant feeling. Shinobi were trained to ignore and shut down fear but the anxiety was there and he couldn't make it go away.

His eyes darted away, off to the side, but Iruka didn't actually turn his head. "I didn't know it was a date so I didn't want to get attached and even before you kissed me I was- uhm- starting to. I told Anko and Genma and uhm- Ebisu so I thought when you asked that they'd told you or somebody they'd told had told you and..." 

Kakashi stared wide-eyed for a moment, the words sinking in. "Oh." The fear dissipated, relief filling in it's wake. "Mah, Iruka, you really are oblivious." He pulled his mask down then leaned forward, tilted his head, and pressed his lips to Iruka's. It was brief, just a brush of lips. "I love you. Will you go out with me, _Iruka_?" He pulled back far enough to see Iruka's eyes. The shock in them made him want to laugh.

Iruka fish mouthed for a moment. "You- you _love_ me?" 

"Is that a yes you'll go out with me?" Kakashi asked, nodding and resisting the urge to laugh.

Iruka nodded.

He laughed and kissed Iruka again. "Good. I'd hate to have wasted my first kiss," Kakashi whispered against his lips. 

Sliding his hands to Kakashi's chest, Iruka pushed him back. "You're _first_ kiss?" His jaw hung agape after the last word, eyes were wide, and eyebrows raised.

That apparently made it his turn to blush and Kakashi felt his cheeks warm. "Not first anything else but yes," he clarified, not wanting Iruka to get the wrong idea. Again.

"You've never kissed anyone? Ever?" Iruka asked, continuing to hold that 'dumbfounded' expression. "Why not?"

"Mah, you know... it's just..." His face felt like it was on fire. Kakashi averted his gaze and stared at Iruka's shoulder. "It's supposed to be special."

"I love you," Iruka laughed softly then leaned forward and kissed him. "So is tomorrow going to be our first date or our six-month-anniversary?"

All of the earlier tension and fear was gone and Kakashi smiled and slid his arms around Iruka. "Both." He fully intended to make sure tomorrow was very, very special and erase any possible lingering questions or doubts Iruka might have. After all, the man was quite oblivious so it was possible he had some.


End file.
